Those of you who have followed my column know that I am a big fan of Linux. In addition to that, my column focuses on the trials and tribulations of getting my employers computing environment out of the Stone Age and rebuilt with security in mind from the get go. All of this while being hamstrung by an almost nonexistent budget. Therefore, a secure, easy-to-install Linux distro with efficient management capabilities would be a welcome addition to my arsenal of free software.

So when I was tasked with finding out a little bit about EnGarde Secure Linux and saw the description on their web site (quote below), I was immediately intrigued with the opportunity of giving it a trial run and letting EH-Net readers know whether or not it is worth their time.

Editor's Note: Guardian Digital announced the release of EnGarde Secure Community 3.0.18 (Version 3.0, Release 18) on Dec 4, 2007. This release includes many updated packages and bug fixes, some feature enhancements to Guardian Digital WebTool and the SELinux policy, and a few new features. This review was done with a prior release.

when i initially looked at the product, i had to connect i to the internet to finish the install with their default install and their default password, i didnt care for that myself. you had to connect to their guardian network to get a username and pass to download the rest of the updates.

I've been using EnGarde for my network firewall at home for over a year and have had no problems with it.

The webtool sometimes will hang when logging in (not sure why), but other than that I have no complaints.

Chris: you still have to get a username/pass to get the updates, but you no longer have to go to the website and then input it into the tool. The first time you login to the webtool, it prompts you to click a 'GDSN Configuration' (or similar) button that will automatically create/add the user/pass for you. You then receive an email with that information for your records. A little less than desirable, but still better.